The Savage Appetites of a Civilized Man

Robinson Crusoe’s menu

Abstract

Robinson Crusoe’s diet while on the island reveals evolutionary processes which prevent him reaching the status of a fully civilized man and domesticator. His diet also represents humanity’s civilizing process via activities proposed by Lévi-Strauss, such as fruit collection, animal husbandry, bread making and the preparation of elaborate dishes. These activities as well as his consumption of certain foods such as bread, meat, liquor and preserved fruits, and his religious and discriminatory attitudes toward alimentary rituals and elements, such as cannibalism and celebratory fasts, position Crusoe’s diet ambiguously within the civility/barbarism dichotomy.